MIRI: The Vatican has appointed Kuching-born Father Richard Ng to replace Bishop Anthony Lee Kok Hin, as the head of the Miri Catholic Diocese spanning Belaga to Baram.
Pope Francis announced on Thursday that he has accepted the resignation of 77 year-old Bishop Lee and appointed 47-year-old Father Richard ahead of the Catholic’s All Saints Day celebration which falls today.
The press from Vatican city said the Holy Father appointed Father Richard Ng as bishop of Miri for the 80,000 Catholics and 16 priests in this diocese.
The bishop-elect was born in Kuching in 1966 and was ordained a priest in 1995.
He holds a licentiate in sacred scriptures from the Biblicum, Rome, and has served in a number of roles, including parish vicar of the cathedral of Kuching, lecturer in sacred scriptures in the major seminary of Kuching, and director of the archdiocesan Commission for Social Communications.
He is currently rector of the major seminary of Kuching and as the new Shepherd for Miri diocese stretching from the interior of Belaga district down to Bintulu, Miri and Limbang division. This includes the rugged Baram, Limbang and Lawas districts all the way to the border with Sabah and East Kalimantan in the interior of Limbang district.
The news was also posted in the Miri diocese and Kuching diocese websites, with congratulatory messages from his previous parishioners and his flock in Miri.
Miri parish priest Father Gabriel Cheong yesterday also announced at the morning mass in St Joseph Cathedral Miri the Pope’s decision to the parishioners.